Tsukudajima and Eitai Bridge, by Utagawa Hiroshige
One of the work of the “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” series, by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). Eitai-bashi Bridge, which was built on the lowest reaches of the Sumida-gawa River, connected Nihonbashi Hakozaki and Fukagawa Saga-cho. In this picture, Tsukudajima was viewed from the bottom of the bridge to the far right. Tsukuda-jima Island was inhabited by fishermen from Osaka who were called by the bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), and they caught whitefish and presented it to the shogun family. You can see a white-fish fishing boat ahead of the left pier. The fishing was done at night with a fire. The appearance of kagaribi fire reflected on the river surface is beautifully expressed by the white printing technique. The boldness symbolizing Eitai Bridge with a single bridge pier drawn on the left side of the screen and the delicacy of printing near the water surface of the turret on the right side with indigo shading are combined.